{"id":486687,"date":"2019-06-05T12:33:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T18:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=844744"},"modified":"2019-06-05T12:33:03","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T18:33:03","slug":"see-black-sabbath-approved-cover-song-by-armenian-folk-musicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/see-black-sabbath-approved-cover-song-by-armenian-folk-musicians\/","title":{"rendered":"See Black Sabbath-Approved Cover Song by Armenian Folk Musicians"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Black Sabbath<\/a>\u2019s songs have been covered many different ways \u2014 by soul singers<\/a>, jazz combos<\/a> and even a fast-food-themed parody band<\/a>. But it still must have been a surprise for Tony Iommi<\/a> and onetime Sabbath singer Ian Gillan (best known as the frontman for Deep Purple<\/a>) when the Armenian ensemble the Naregatsi Orchestra presented them with a cover of the Technical Ecstasy<\/em> deep cut \u201cShe\u2019s Gone\u201d at a special concert in Yerevan today. The ensemble, dressed in traditional garb, played the song on traditional instruments including the dulcimer-like qanun<\/em>, the lute-like oud<\/em> and the sitar-like tar<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The musicians, who first worked together on Sabbath\u2019s Born Again<\/em> album, were in the country\u2019s capital today to be recognized for their efforts to raise funds for earthquake relief there. In 1988, a 6.8-magnitude quake had decimated the Armenian city Spitak and killed an estimated 38,000 people. Iommi and Gillan were among the musicians to contribute to a star-studded charity recording of Deep Purple\u2019s \u201cSmoke on the Water\u201d<\/a> the following year to raise funds to rebuild the country. Other musicians on the recording included Pink Floyd\u2019s David Gilmour, Deep Purple\u2019s Ritchie Blackmore and Queen\u2019s Brian May. Decades later, Iommi and Gillan recorded another song, \u201cOut of My Mind,\u201d with another supergroup of musicians, including current and former members of Metallica and Iron Maiden, to collect money to build a music school in Armenia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was [in Armenia] a year after the earthquake, and it was as if it were the day before,\u201d Ian Gillan said in 2011<\/a>. \u201cI went out to Spitak, the epicenter of the earthquake, and I was speaking to the mayor and people going around seeing people like zombies. And of all the things that made an impression on me, the one thing he said was that there\u2019s no music. Even after a year, there\u2019s no music in the church. There\u2019s no music on the radio. Children don\u2019t sing. Even the birds aren\u2019t singing. It\u2019s just dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with charity organizer Jon Dee, who put together the \u201cSmoke on the Water\u201d recording for what was dubbed Rock Aid Armenia, Iommi and Gillan traveled to Yerevan this year to attend a special event in their honor that the country\u2019s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, attended. While there, they were also treated to the special performance of \u201cShe\u2019s Gone,\u201d Sabbath\u2019s classically orchestrated, mournful love song from 1978.<\/p>\n

Iommi posted the performance to his Facebook page<\/a> and wrote, \u201cGreat day here in Armenia, Ian and I have just been with the Naregatsi Orchestra.\u201d<\/p>\n